The figure of 100,000 visas being revoked since Mr Trump’s executive immigration order last Friday came from a government lawyer in a court case in Virginia.

The sate of Virginia is applying to join a lawsuit against the travel ban.

In response to a question from the judge Erez Reuveni, a lawyer from the US Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, said “over 100,000 visas have been revoked,” according to local reports.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, of the Legal Aid Justice Center, who was in court, said: “The number 100,000 sucked the air out of my lungs.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer was unable to immediately confirm the figure.